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| DESCRIPTION | |
| When it's lacking: - People often find themselves going through the motions -- of meetings, protocol, and tradition. - The organization is infested with valueless rules and policies. - There's a constant struggle between employees and the organizational bureaucracy. - "I feel like I'm on a hamster wheel going around and around and around. So much of what I do seems so irrelevant." |
When it's thriving: + The system allows employees to use their time efficiently; they can spend it on any activities that are relevant to the mission. + Rules and red tape are kept to an absolute minimum. |
| EXAMPLES |
| How late is late? Better yet, who really cares? The managers of a certain graphics-design
firm, that's who. John recalls a meeting where seven or so managers spent a good
hour trying to define "late." A couple employees had recently shown up
late for work, and management wanted a solid rule. One supervisor kept insisting
it was 30 minutes while others thought 15 minutes. Then a coalition started building
around 10 minutes, and the debate raged on. They eventually settled on a time and
ordered up a new written policy. "It was so ridiculous," John says. "My
only goal during that conversation was to make sure the new policy included the words
'to be applied at the manager's discretion.'" When Ginny reflects on her workplace, she sees red tape, irrelevant rules, and cumbersome processes that churn on without end. Her biggest pet peeve is the meeting that's held for the sake of holding a meeting. "It's a meeting culture," says Ginny, who conducts economic-development workshops. "You have your two-hour session even if there's nothing substantial to discuss." She likes her job best when she's on the road, far away from the bureaucratic hub. "That's when I can focus on what's really important." |
| ACTION IDEAS |
| Create a "stupid rules committee" to hunt down and kill ridiculous rules.
Ideally, the group would get everyone involved in the pursuit, and a serious anti-rule
bias would prevail. "When in doubt, kill it." Cut back on the meetings. By how much? Well, what percentage of meeting time seems to be time well spent? If it's 60%, shave your meeting time by 40%. Couple this with a crash course on effective meeting techniques that's tailored to your group's particular meeting pitfalls. If conversations tend to go off on useless tangents, learn ways to stay on track. If decision-making grinds on endlessly, equip yourself with consensus-building tools. At a minimum, craft a tight agenda for each meeting and stick to it. Also consider bringing in an outside facilitator -- at least for the first few meetings, when the group is trying to establish new habits. Have a team take a pickax to the policies and procedures manual. Flip from page to page with one driving question: Does this policy help or hinder us in carrying out our organizational mission? Anything that hinders should be set aside and scrutinized. If there's no persuasive reason to keep it, chop it. Warning: Every policy and procedure has at least one staunch defender. Be ready to explain how each targeted item is anti-mission. Resharpen the pickax and go after any red-tape-entangled forms. There are so many possibilities: time sheets, expense reports, requisitions, purchasing orders, and so forth. Most forms call for serious simplification while others can be eliminated altogether. Anything in triplicate should immediately draw the ax's attention. Important: The ax-wielding should be done by a team of people who work with these forms on a daily basis. |
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